A Pomeroon, Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) man has pleaded guilty to chopping a 23-year-old pregnant woman, severing several of her fingers in the process. Initially indicted for the offence of attempted murder, 31-year-old Richard Mohammed opted to plead guilty to felonious wounding and is slated to be sentenced on April 7 by Essequibo High Court Judge Jo Ann Barlow.
State Counsel Tiffini Lyken is appearing for the prosecution, while Mohammed is being represented by Attorney-at-Law George Thomas.
He admitted that on March 25, 2021, in the county of Essequibo, he unlawfully and maliciously wounded the woman. It was reported that on the day in question, Mohammed and the woman were engaged in a heated argument.
During the ordeal, he armed himself with a chopper and dealt the woman several chops about her body, including to her head. Several of her fingers were reportedly severed in the process. The young woman was six months at the time.
Following the incident, he also set a house on fire. Persons in the community went to the woman’s aid and rushed her to the hospital.
Her attacker was later arrested and prosecuted.
Only on Monday, a 42-year-old former cane cutter, Warren Dennis admitted to brutally chopping a woman, severing her left hand from the wrist. Dennis, formerly of Beterverwagting, East Coast Demerara (ECD), was indicted for the offence of attempted murder before Demerara High Court Judge Simone Morris-Ramlall.
He admitted that on April 23, 2017, in the county of Demerara, he wounded the woman, who was a Police Constable at the time, with intent to commit murder.
Dennis, who has been on remand for the past five years, will be sentenced on March 31 following the presentation of a probation report in his favour and a victim impact statement.
On the day in question, the woman, then 28, was making her way to give her son his school supplies when she was attacked by a cutlass-wielding Warren. The incident occurred at Quamina Street, Beterverwagting ECD.
It was reported that he chased her into a nearby trench and chopped her mercilessly, severing her left hand from the wrist. Following the attack, Dennis made good his escape but was later handed over to the Police by his brother.
Meanwhile, earlier this month, a man who had previously served 17 years in prison for killing his wife was handed a 14-year jail sentence for brutally chopping a woman he met shortly after his release from the correctional facility.
Neil Archer, a 49-year-old former cane harvester, formerly of Uitvlugt, West Coast Demerara (WCD), was arraigned before Demerara High Court Judge Simone Morris-Ramlall and admitted that on October 19, 2016, in the county of Demerara, he unlawfully and maliciously wounded the woman with intent to murder her.
While armed with a cutlass on the night of October 19, 2016, he attacked this other woman while she was asleep, chopping her to her neck, hand, back, and other parts of her body. She was saved from Archer’s wrath by her son. During that altercation, several of the woman’s fingers were severed.
Meanwhile, in 1997, Archer was given two seven-year prison sentences for attempted murder and wounding with intent respectively; but since the sentences ran concurrently, he had spent only seven years in jail. He reportedly committed these offences against another woman.
